HE was British football’s first £1million teenager 32 years ago, but now Bruce Dyer is dedicated to finding kids who can follow his pathway into the game.
It was back in 1994 that Crystal Palace paid Watford the seven-figure sum for the then 18-year-old.
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The 51-year former striker now works as a regional scout for Manchester United, but also coaches in schools promoting his approach to the sport.
Based in Yorkshire, he said: “When I am working with youngsters in academies and schools I would like to think that I am the absolute example of what any kid can achieve.
“I was just a lad from East London with this dream of playing football.
“It does seem crazy that it’s over three decades since Palace signed me for £1million when I was 18 after I had only made my senior debut for Watford a year earlier.
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“I look back to that time and I seriously have to pinch myself.
“It was a crazy, whirlwind period of my life.
“I joined Watford’s youth system at 15, was recommended by the club’s kit manager, Ken Brooks, and made my debut for the Hornets when I was 17.”
One of Dyer’s earliest football memories is playing in the East End of London at grassroots level for a team called Grasshoppers.
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Their rivals were a side called Ridgeway Rovers who had a youngster called David Beckham playing for them.
It was a special football education which served Dyer well throughout his 15 years as a player at 11 clubs between 1993 and 2008.
One of the highlights of his career was finishing top scorer for the England Under-21s when they won the Toulon Tournament in 1994, netting in the final as the Three Lions beat Portugal 2-0 — a side that included Sol Campbell, Trevor Sinclair and Jamie Redknapp.
He added: “I loved every minute of it.
“Now I would like to think it’s my vocation in my working life to help other kids have that pinch-me moment and achieve the dream I enjoyed.”
Dyer accepts the opportunities for aspiring stars to play at Premier League level are statistically slim.
He said: “You have to look beyond that as a youngster starting out in the game today.
“I am a true believer that my dream came true to play at the top level and so it can happen for anyone else I coach or scout.”
For the last eight years the ex-goal-getter has run Love Life Church UK in Barnsley, which he founded in 2018, having turned to religion for guidance at the start of the century.
But Dyer has also enjoyed two huge additional reflected glories over the last few years — one in the game and one in his personal life.
First his wife, Janine, appeared on TV shows The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent — wowing the judges and audience — something Dyer says has brought him more joy than his own football career.
He said: “I am blessed to have had Janine as my soul mate.
“Her career was put on hold while she was having children, but she has this talent, I am so pleased she has been able to share.”
Janine is the founder and director of the Sheffield Community Gospel Choir and is a multi-award-winning, gifted singer.
And on a football level, he has watched with pride as his old side Palace — where he netted 44 goals in 164 games over four years in the mid-Nineties — have lifted the FA Cup, Community Shield and European Conference League silverware over the last 16 months.
He added: “When I was at Palace they were known as a yo-yo club, jumping up and down between the Premier League and second tier. It’s on a different scale today.
“I couldn’t be happier for supporters, too — they have an incredible fanbase. Now they are into the Europa League this season and I hope they go from strength to strength.
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“Dougie Freedman invited me back to Palace a couple of years ago and I did a talk with the Under-18s.
“I was absolutely blown away by how much the facilities had changed at the club from when I was there. Palace will always have a very special place in my heart.”